Obama Inauguration Celebrities: Who, What And Where

NEW YORK — If you thought the Golden Globes was a party, just wait until you see Barack Obama's inauguration. Next week, Washington will look a lot like a colder version of Hollywood.

Here's a roundup of who will be where, keeping in mind that in the mad rush to D.C., schedule changes may occur.

THE BIG SHOW

_ On Sunday, tradition will be upheld with a free star-studded concert on the National Mall, starting at 2:30 p.m. Among the many performers: Bruce Springsteen, U2, Beyonce, Usher, Garth Brooks, Stevie Wonder, John Mellencamp, Shakira, Mary J. Blige, Herbie Hancock, Josh Groban, John Legend and James Taylor. Denzel Washington, Jamie Foxx, Martin Luther King III and Queen Latifah will read. Obama will stop by and HBO will broadcast "We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial."

WHERE'S OPRAH

_ Winfrey will host a live episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" from the Kennedy Center Opera House on Monday. She'll also host a second episode on Wednesday. Winfrey has not announced her plans on Inauguration Day.

WHERE'S SPIKE

_ Spike Lee will appear at a daylong symposium at Howard University on Monday to discuss topics including the impact of Obama on Black America. Also there will be Rev. Al Sharpton, Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., Dr. Cornel West and Dr. Henry Louis Gates. Lee will also host an after-party Tuesday evening.

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OTHER CONCERTS

_ BET will hold an awards ceremony, the BET Honors, Saturday at the Warner Theater to honor Mary J. Blige, filmmaker Tyler Perry, Ervin "Magic" Johnson and others. Gabrielle Union will host and performers include Queen Latifa, Ne-Yo, Anita Baker and Joss Stone.

_ The Hip-hop Caucus will host a concert Saturday at Ibiza with Common, Mary J. Blige and Nelly.

_ Jessica Alba will host a kickoff event by youth voter initiative Declare Yourself on Sunday dubbed "A New Birth of Citizenship." Maroon 5 and DJ Samantha Ronson will perform.

_ "Kids' Inaugural: We Are the Future" will be held Monday night at the Verizon Center and air on the Disney Channel. Performing will be Miley Cyrus, the Jonas Brothers and Bow Wow. Michelle Obama and Jill Biden will host with their families.

_ The "America Feels Kinda Cool Again Inaugural Gala" will feature the Beastie Boys, Sheryl Crow and Citizen Cope on Monday at the 9:30 club.

_ Jay-Z will perform a concert _ "In Concert on the Eve on Change" _ at the Warner Theater on Monday.

_ Aretha Franklin will play a free concert at the Kennedy Center with Nuttin' But Stringz and the Let Freedom Ring Choir on Monday.

_ Manifest Hope will finish a three-day-long, Inauguration-themed art exhibit with a party featuring performances by Santogold, Moby and De La Soul.

THE OFFICIAL BALLS

_ The Neighborhood Ball: ABC will broadcast this ball for Washington residents at the Washington Convention Center. Performing will be Mariah Carey, Jay-Z, Beyonce, Alicia Keys, Faith Hill and Mary J. Blige.

_ The Youth Ball: This ball is for people aged 18 to 35 to celebrate "the role young Americans can play to serve their communities." After announcing and then junking a similarly themed ball, MTV will broadcast it. Fall Out Boy is among the acts attending.

_ The other eight official balls are: the Home States Ball, the Commander in Chief Ball, the Biden Home State Ball, the Mid-Atlantic Ball, the Western and Southern Regional Ball, the Midwest Regional Ball, the New England Ball and the Southern Regional Ball.

THE UNOFFICIAL BALLS

_ The "Dreams of My Father" American Scholars Inaugural Ball will take place Sunday at the Four Seasons and feature Alicia Keys, Macy Gray and LL Cool J.

_ The Voto Latino Inaugural Party will on Sunday include Marc Antony, Rosario Dawson, Tony Plana and Wilmer Valderrama.

_ The Hip-Hop Inaugural Ball will take place Monday at the Harman Center and be hosted by Russell Simmons, LL Cool J, T.I. and Young Jeezy

_ The Huffington Post Preinaugural Ball will be held Monday night at the Newseum and feature performances by Sting and will.i.am. Attendees will include Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, Denzel Washington, Shakira, Jon Bon Jovi, Halle Berry and Ashton Kutcher.

_ The Green Inaugural Ball will be held Monday at the Portrait Gallery and be hosted by Al Gore.

_ Muhammad Ali will attend the Kentucky Inaugural Ball on Monday at the Marriott Wardman Hotel.

_ The nonprofit arts and entertainment advocacy group Creative Coalition will hold a gala to be headlined by Elvis Costello and Sting at the Harman Center for the Arts on Tuesday. Also attending will be Anne Hathaway, Spike Lee, Tim Robbins, Maggie Gyllenhaal and others.

_ The Purple Ball, Tuesday at the Fairmont Hotel, will be hosted by Lou Gossett Jr. and Il Divo will perform. Expected to attend are: Ashley Judd, Patricia Arquette, John Cusack, Tim Robbins, Ed Harris, Ashley Judd, Josh Lucas, Amy Brenneman, Brendan Fraser, Susan Sarandon and Lisa Marie Presley.

_ There will be two American Music Balls: The Legends Ball, hosted by Dionne Warwick and featuring Chaka Khan and George Clinton; and the Urban Ball _ hosted by Ludacris and featuring Cedric the Entertainer and Monica. Both will be held Tuesday at the Marriot Wardman Park Hotel.

_ BET will host an inaugural ball at the Mandarin Oriental hotel Tuesday. The network will broadcast an hour special to coincide with the ball, which will include a performance by Wyclef Jean.

_ The Equality Ball, hosted by the Human Rights Campaign, will be held Tuesday at the Mayflower Hotel with appearances by Cyndi Lauper, Melissa Etheridge and Rufus Wainwright.

_ The Inaugural Peace Ball, Tuesday at the Smithsonian Postal Museum, will be hosted by Harry Belafonte and include Joan Baez, Graham Nash and Jackson Brown.

_ Rihanna will perform at the Recording Industry Association of America Inaugural Ball to benefit Feeding America on Tuesday.

_ Nas, Josh Groban, Slash and Robert Randolph are among those performing at the Heroes Red, White & Blue Inaugural Ball (benefiting military families and veterans) on Tuesday at the Warner Theater.

Comments

[DallasMike]

Celebrities, politicians, and bigwigs using 600 private jets will produce 25,320,000 POUNDS of CO2
Personal vehicles could account for 262,483,200 POUNDS of CO2
In the parade, horses alone will produce more than 400 POUNDS of CO2
The total carbon footprint for the Inauguration will likely exceed 575 million POUNDS of CO2
It would take the average U.S. household 57,598 years to produce a carbon footprint equal to that of the new president"s housewarming party

HOPE AND CHANGE

[KNadine]

OMG - my head is spinning

[Mayoyo]

Is Dionne Warwick still alive.....

[Realtor n VA]

I will be attending the Neighborhood Ball and the "We the People" Ball! Hope to see some of you there!

[Smith1111]

How did you get tickets to the Neighborhood ball? I've been looking for them like crazy. Do you know anyone that might have them? I'm going to We the People concert as well.
Congrats on the tickets!! your sooooo lucky

[AliLiz]

USA...let's celebrate! Well done!

I will be home with family and friends and toast to a new era and wish Pres. Obama the best...I am thrilled we'll have a new administration. Focus on that, please.

[glockman]

So, when Bush (who I never voted for, so you can't cast me as a "rethuglican" or whatever you call them) has a high dollar inauguration, he's lambasted for the outrageous expense involved, but when Obama does it, no one says a word? Can someone please explain this to me using reason, and not some sophomoric emotional response.

As an example of what I'm talking about, here is a link to an article I found shelling Bush (rightfully) for his lavish inauguration.

http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2005/01/20/media_on_inauguration

[steamboat]

Bush---$50 million (everybody outraged at how expensive)
Obama---$150 million-plus (people who were outraged at the above this time going to this one)

[DEvans1]

I swear that if this man brokered world peace, cured cancer and discovered proof that Elvis was alive some of you would still find a reason to hate him! Get Over It Already!!!

[steamboat]

When Bush spent over $50 million on the inauguration the liberals and Hollywood went nuts, saying it was too expensive and sent a bad signal to the average American...Well so far Obama's estimated inauguration costs are $150 million-plus (in bad times) and nobody is saying a word. Including Hollywood who will all be there.

[wineandjazz]

Hollywood just wants to be there because it's the "in" thing to do. Photo ops. Hollywood could care less about politics. As them what and how much the stimilus package is, many of them couldn't tell you.

[DEvans1]

If you're going to be outraged, at least have your facts straight! The $150 million will be paid in half by the Obama Inauguration Committee and private donations. The other half is mostly for extra security for the massive crowds and any nut jobs that may try to act crazy on that day!

Obama has done his level best to NOT make this a big lavish event. He's limited the dollar amount that corporations can donate. The star-studded concert (which is a tradition) will be FREE, his first dance with his wife will be at the Neighborhood Ball (which is a FREE event) instead of one of the big high-dollar balls as has been the case in the past and he's also added a Kid's Ball for military familes...and as predicted, some of you are STILL not satisfied.

I swear that if this man brokered world peace, cured cancer and discovered proof that Elvis was alive some of you would still find a reason to hate him! GET OVER IT ALREADY!!!

[glockman]

Who cares where the money is coming from? The fact remains that lavish amounts of resources are being spent on an inauguration. Obama doesn't have to accept all that money, or he could have wished for the money to go to various outreach programs. Just admit that there is, and always will be, a double standard. We won't hold that against you.

[newdreams]

Our well earned party week is shaping up good.

[genia]

Hey....hey...where's the Dave Matthews Band?
That's not right.....Dave was out there hustling for Obama. and Biden. I read a quote from him where he would be honord to play ..if asked.
That ain't right...shame on somebody........boooo

[moda31]

it sounds like there are going to be a lot of massive and awesome parties going on; in talking to people it seems much like on election night people just want to be around other people and be happy.

[devans00]

Wow, my head is spinning from the diversity.

I'm so happy the Obama Administration went through a lot of effort to make Presidential Inauguration day as inclusive as possible.

[Tatiana]

Oprah has to always be the center of attention.

[Julesbaby]

so what has she done this time?? She's doing her show!

She's an amazing woman and an inspiration who helps a lot of people.

If you don't like her, don't talk about her. What exactly have you done lately?

[Tatiana]

Ummm...let me think.
I cleaned out my cat's litter box this morning.

And I'll get right back at ya when I think of other things.

[Melissa]

I hope Obama makes Oprah an Ambassador so she will leave town and we can stop hearing about her weight, etc. problems. Who cares?

[likeicare]

tatiana --

" . . . always . . ." --????? Really?

Examples, pleeeze?

If you want to see what someone looks like, who REALLY has to be the center of attention -- always -- look no further than William Jefferson Clinton -- a texbook narcissist if ever there was one (and I voted for him, too!).

[wineandjazz]

Tatiana...I'm sorry I think you have Oprah mixed up with Beyonce. Beyonce has to be the center of attention. Beyonce and politics...don't mix. Sorry.

[johnnyjust]

Let's hope the focus is on Obama and not some soon-to-be-forgotten "celebrity."

[Giada]

Eeek ... could it be anymore inclusive :) .... the real America, as opposed to one Inaugural with the Good Old Boys.

[nowirehangersever1]

congrads to obama but i really wish beyonce wasn't performing. they should have sent her to the obama pajama party to perform.

[lynnn]

Why she performed for Bush (and that's why I wouldn't buy her music).

[wineandjazz]

I wish they hadn't invited her either. She did perform for Bush and I will ALWAYS ban Beyonce from my CD collection - not only that but the words to her songs are a bit too young for me. No substance..